Parliament has approved the the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2013 with the Rajya Sabha adopting it today. The Lok Sabha had passed it on Wednesday.

Replying to clarifications by members in the debate in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister assured the members that the new national pension scheme is sustainable. P Chidambaram said the bill has travelled for nine years. Let us give the bill the honour that it deserves and pass it, he said. He said 26 states have joined the scheme.

He said in all, over 52 lakh state, central and private sector employees have been subscribing to the scheme. Chidambaram told the members that the pension funds will be managed safely by the Pension Fund Managers. The bill was adopted with 115 members favouring and 25 opposing it. The Finance Minister also explained the features of the pension scheme.

Earlier, moving the bill Chidambaram said the bill provides for the establishment of an Authority to promote old age income security by establishing, developing and regulating pension funds, to protect the interests of subscribers to schemes of pension funds.

The bill seeks to give statutory powers to the Pension Fund Regulatory Authority. Under the scheme, every subscriber will have an individual pension account, which will be portable across job changes. The subscribers will choose

Fund Managers and schemes to manage their pension wealth. Initiating the discussion, Piyus Goyal of the BJP urged the government to ensure a minimum pension of 5,000 rupees per month to the subscribers. He also said there is no need for depending on Foreign Direct Investment into the pension as the Pension Fund Managers are capable of managing the funds.

Ramchandra Khuntia of the Congress suggested that a representative of the contributory employees should be included in the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA). Veer Singh of the BSP suggested a provision of family pension should be incorporated in the legislation.